NLC: Tinubu’s speech falls short of Nigerians’ expectations

President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, has expressed disappointment, at President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s nationwide broadcast on Monday.

Ajaero in a statement he signed, said that the promises and assurances made by President Tinubu were not the silver bullet that Nigerians expected.

Ajaero further remarked that the speech seemed out of touch with the harsh reality of the hardships and suffering most Nigerians are currently enduring.

He went on to criticise the absence of any mention of the repair of the national refineries in President Tinubu’s speech.

“We expected that the next line of statement would be how the present government plans to resuscitate our public refineries which have been lying comatose for so many years and is the major pain point in the whole subsidy narrative. Unfortunately, the entire speech by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was completely silent on the issue of the repair of our national refineries.”

Regarding the lack of transparency in identifying those responsible for looting Nigeria’s commonwealth under the guise of petrol subsidy, Ajaero expressed frustration at the president not naming names.

He said, “It is unacceptable for the President and Commander-in-Chief to lament like ordinary Nigerians about a group that Mr. President routinely referred to in his speech as the ‘elites of the elites’ who have stolen so much from Nigeria that they have become so powerful as to constitute a threat to democratic governance. What Nigerians expected from Mr. President is a firm commitment to bring these economic saboteurs to justice and recover what they have stolen.”

Ajaero also raised concerns about the lack of progress in negotiating the national minimum wage with Organised Labour, saying, “In all the meetings scheduled by the government, Organised Labour has been forced to negotiate with empty chairs on the Federal Government’s side as the Federal Government has not matched its public promises with firm commitment to negotiate in good faith with labour. As a matter of fact, the sub-committee on wage award has not been inaugurated and has not met.”

Addressing the claims of interventions through palliatives, loans, and grants, Ajaero remarked, “Nigerians are used to such promises which have never produced any verifiable and meaningful changes in the lives of citizens.”

Furthermore, Ajaero questioned the shift in focus from addressing fundamental issues related to petrol subsidy that President Tinubu himself had identified in 2012. He stated, “Today, these issues were swept under the carpet in President Tinubu’s speech. Nigerians wonder ‘what has changed?'”

He reassured the Nigerian public that “the Nigeria Labour Congress remains committed to matching discussions with government with the current realities of sufferings that Nigerians are going through.” He emphasized that “until we see real commitment by government to do the needful to improve the lot of Nigerians and ameliorate the sufferings workers and ordinary Nigerians are going through, we remain committed to continue with our struggle.”